Chapter 36
Chapter 36
That night, firewood blazed throughout Jiangdu County.
Blacksmiths climbed ladders to repair the city gates, while carpenters worked through the night building wooden barricades. The city’s residents gathered in huddles of three or five, backs bent and heads lowered as they whispered among themselves, endlessly repeating a few phrases: “Smile. Be enthusiastic. Con them properly.”
The yamen runners and prefectural troops also crowded together. One soldier stretched his lips into a stern grin, only for his commander to smack him on the head in exasperation. “Smile properly! What if you scare them away?”
After the previous mountain flood, the people of Jiangdu County were united from top to bottom and possessed tremendous solidarity. They also trusted Prefect Liang blindly. Even if the Prefect’s instructions seemed a little strange, or even a little like a scam, an official had to be smarter and more capable than illiterate commoners like them. All they had to do was listen and obey!
The next day, the first wave of refugees from the eastern counties reached Jiangdu County.
They had expected Jiangdu County to keep its gates shut and reject them like every other city. Instead, both gates stood wide open, and numerous elderly people and women waited beneath their shade with grass baskets full of rice-and-flour buns looped over their arms.
They waved with warm smiles. “Our countrymen are here! Oh, you must be starving after that journey! Heaven is truly blind. Come, come, hurry inside and have a bun to fill your stomachs!”
The faint fragrance of the buns drifted over. The refugees, so hungry their stomachs clung to their backs, swallowed hard. Jiangdu County truly did have ample grain. They had chosen correctly!
“Everyone, hurry into the city! Once we’re inside, we can eat our fill!”
Someone in the crowd shouted, and the refugees instantly surged toward the gates. Some ran straight for the elderly people and women carrying the grass baskets.
They were desperately hungry. They wanted those buns so badly.
Unexpectedly, two columns of prefectural troops rushed out through the gates with sabers drawn and blocked their path in imposing formation. The long blades reflected cold light beneath the scorching sun, frightening them into retreat.
What was this?
At first, the refugees were afraid. Then grief and fury rose within them. They glared fiercely at the soldiers, enraged that they were being denied entry.
Had they not been told they could enter the city and eat buns? Why were they being kept outside?
They were already starving. Their flight had left them exhausted and overheated, and they had not even dared drink their limited water. Now, just when hope of survival finally stood before them, they were barred from the city. The refugees grew agitated and restless.
They were about to step forward and demand an explanation when the commanding officer’s fierce face twisted into a stiff, uncomfortable smile. Pointing toward both sides, the officer squeezed out the gentle voice learned only the night before and reminded them, “Register your travel permits first. Then enter the city.”
The refugees looked to the sides in confusion and only then noticed the many wooden tables set up there. A young scholar sat behind each one, brush poised to record temporary travel permits for the refugees.
Eager to enter the city, the refugees hurried to the tables and gave the scholars their own and their families’ names and places of origin.
The scholars recorded the information and handed each family a temporary travel permit. Meanwhile, patrolling soldiers marched around and repeatedly shouted, “Keep your travel permits safe. No permit means no buns and nowhere to sleep. Keep your travel permits safe. No permit means no buns and nowhere to sleep…”
The refugees: “…”
How strange. Why did that tone sound like a curse?
They silently tucked their travel permits away, terrified someone might steal them.
The first wave numbered nearly two thousand. They entered the city one orderly group at a time. Inside, they saw buns piled on sheets of oilpaper along both sides of the road. More than a dozen burly men who looked like pig butchers stood behind the elderly people and women, guarding the bun stalls with somewhat savage and “distorted” smiles.
If they had not seen local residents inside, the refugees might have suspected hunger had made them dizzy and led them into a bandits’ mountain stronghold.
The elderly people and women pressed two buns into each refugee’s hands and said warmly, “Countrymen! Eat and drink your fill! Then go look around the city. There isn’t much to see, but you can chat with the locals and take your minds off things!”
The refugees took the buns and began devouring them, paying no attention to how excessively enthusiastic the people of Jiangdu County seemed. They nodded distractedly in agreement and hurried into the city.
There truly was little to see inside. Few vendors stood along the streets, and after the second mountain flood, many ruined walls and filthy corners had not yet been cleared. Yet plenty of residents wandered the roadside. Whenever they saw someone, they waved enthusiastically and approached. “Countrymen, you must have suffered greatly along the way! Don’t worry. Now that you’re in Jiangdu County, treat it as your own home. The Prefect will surely arrange proper work for you, so you can earn honest money and eat food honestly earned!”
Their enthusiasm left the refugees dizzy. “Huh? What work? What money? Aren’t we being given grain to eat and land to farm?”
They came from counties to the east, where Mount Yuji blocked the river and rain refused to fall, leaving the earth dead and hardened by drought. When fleeing famine in the past, they generally went to a new county to receive a few sacks of relief grain. Those with a craft sought work and began again, while those without one cleared wasteland and continued farming. Of course, most of the time, they were sent home.
Farmers had little money in their hands these days. As long as they had land to cultivate, food to eat, and could survive the winter, they were content.
But the people of Jiangdu County seemed to be saying they could work and receive wages.
“Oh, countrymen! The land here cannot be farmed yet! It’s all been flooded and must dry first!” The villager smiled and shook his head. “Don’t worry about that! With our Prefect here, you won’t go hungry! After all, our Prefect is protected by a mountain immortal!”
A mountain immortal? What mountain immortal?
As the refugees puzzled over this, several rosy-cheeked children skipped past, singing a ballad in clear, tender voices. “Yizhou has a mountain immortal, who pities every living soul. Entering dreams at dead of night, the immortal guides Prefect Liang. A storm will soon descend, and mountain floods will pour. Shelter on Yuji for three days, and countless lives will be saved.”
“The Prefect obeys the vision, and the mountain flood arrives. Mount Yuji cuts off the waters, cleverly saving every life. The thoughtful Prefect prays, seeking another dream. The mountain immortal comes and asks what troubles him.”
“Can this mountain be leveled? Can this river be split? East and west share water unevenly, and countless people suffer! The mountain immortal laughs aloud and praises his bold design, then points with a single hand and reveals ten thousand methods!”
“This mountain can be leveled! This river can be split! Divide the flow east and west, and a Land of Abundance shall rise!”
The refugees listened in utter confusion and could not help asking, “What does that ballad mean? What mountain immortal? What lives were saved? What are the ten thousand methods, and what is this Land of Abundance?”
“Goodness, you don’t know? I thought you came here to help because you’d heard about it!” The person slapped a thigh and enthusiastically explained, “Our Prefect Liang received a dream from Yizhou’s mountain immortal not long ago! The immortal said he could teach the Prefect to cut through the mountain and split the river, ending the Min River floods! If the Min River is split in two and a channel cut through Mount Yuji, the east will have water to irrigate its fields, while the west will no longer be plagued by mountain floods!”
“What?” The refugees were stunned and utterly disbelieving. “Cut through a mountain and split a river? How could mortals accomplish such a thing?”
“Ah, don’t be so quick to doubt! At the hour of the rooster tonight, scholars arranged by the Prefect will give a lecture outside the prefectural yamen. They’ll explain exactly how to cut through the mountain and split the river!” the person said proudly. “If you understand the lesson, you’ll even receive buns!”
In ordinary times, the refugees might have been more interested in Prefect Liang receiving a dream from a mountain immortal. At present, however, the starving people cared more about the buns. They immediately thought: We must go take a look at the hour of the rooster and see what this is all about!
After spreading the message, the villager immediately ducked into a nearby corner and patted his chest softly.
This was his first time conning anyone. Surely he had done all right?
Several noises suddenly came from nearby. He turned hastily and discovered other villagers hiding in the shadows, patting their chests with equally guilty expressions.
When the sounds drew their attention, they looked at one another and burst out laughing.
So they were not the only ones feeling guilty! Everyone was the same!